“LuckyChewy” Fends Off Red-Hot Nick Schulman to Win PokerGO Kickoff Opener

Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger is the first winner of the PokerGO Tour Kickoff series as he held off red-hot Nick Schulman to win $117,600 and his seventh PGT title.

The $5,100 buy-in event marked the start of a series with five high roller tournaments in PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas from Jan. 20-25. It drew 84 runners for a prize pool of $420,000.

The final table included Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (7th – $16,800), online all-star Patrick Leonard (6th – $21,000) in a rare PokerGO Studio appearance and two-time bracelet winner John Riordan (4th – $39,900).

PGT Kickoff Event 1 Final Table Payouts

Cooling Down Schulman

Schulman’s runner-up finish is just weeks removed from finishing runner-up to PGT Player of the Year Jeremy Ausmus in the $1 Million PGT Championship for $200,000. Not long before, he won a PGT Last Chance high roller for $283,050 in Las Vegas and his sixth World Series of Poker bracelet and $145,000 at WSOP Paradise.

Schulman had a strong start at the final table as he cracked Seidel’s queens with ace-queen to send the 10-time bracelet winner to the rail in seventh place. He later eliminated third-place finisher Matthew McEwan as his ace-eight pipped McEwan’s nine-eight.

Lichtenberger and Schulman were near even in chips as they played a nearly hourlong heads-up battle. Schulman was on the ropes when he moved all in with jack-seven as was called by Lichtenberger with a suited king-nine. Neither player improved on the flop but “LuckyChewy” turned a king to have the poker commentator drawing dead.

The victory brought Lichtenberger his seventh PGT title and his first live tournament win since September 2023 when he won a PokerGO Masters event for $204,000, adding to his $21 million in Hendon Mob earnings.

There will be four more winners crowned in the PokerGO Studio this week, including in the currently underway Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold’em that drew 96 players for a prize pool of $480,000.

Check out the final table action of the PGT Kickoff opening event on YouTube.

_{*Lead photo courtesy PokerGO}

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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